Outlook Automatically Deleting Emails from Inbox – Issue Fixed

“I am a regular user of Outlook, and I’ve noticed some of my emails went missing in the past few months. At first, I thought I accidentally deleted them, but they weren’t in the trash either. After researching, I found that Outlook automatically deletes emails without my authorization. It’s frustrating, and I want to stop this automatic deletion. Can you help me disable this feature or suggest a solution?”

Have you also faced the ‘Outlook automatically deleting emails’ issue? Well, this is because of Outlook’s Auto-archiving feature. This is difficult, especially because emails are important and you are not well-versed in the Outlook configuration. Therefore, we will discuss this in detail and figure out ways to fix auto-delete emails in Outlook issue. Otherwise, you are free to use a dedicated PST File Recovery Tool to recover corrupt PST and restore deleted emails. Read the blog carefully to get answered all your queries.

Why is Outlook Automatically Deleting Emails from Inbox?

By default, Outlook’s AutoArchive feature is set to organize and manage your email. Depending on the settings, it automatically moves older emails to an archive folder to declutter your main inbox. Additionally, you can configure settings to delete these archived emails after a specific period. Typically, users do this to streamline the mailbox and keep only the most relevant messages. AutoArchive is designed to enhance email organization and manage storage space effectively.

Nevertheless, it is possible to deactivate this feature and prevent Outlook from automatically deleting emails. Side by side, you can also stop Outlook deleting attachments.

Besides, there are other possible causes too:

• Outlook Message Rules Setting: If you have configured Outlook automatically deleting emails using message rules. These rules enable you to specify that particular emails should be transferred to the Deleted Items or another assigned folder.
• Move Conversation Feature in Outlook: This feature moves email conversations from one folder to another, but it does not delete the emails themselves. Instead, it moves specific conversations to the Deleted Items folder.
• Ignore Conversations Feature: When this feature is enabled, any conversations you choose to ignore will not appear in your inbox. Although the emails are not deleted, they are redirected to the Junk folder.
• Corrupt or Oversized PST Files: Lastly, a corrupt PST file can cause malfunction. While a large PST file may prompt Outlook to automatically delete some emails to free up storage space.

Hence, now we know the possible causes of Outlook deleting emails automatically from inboxes. Thus, it’s important to fix it as soon as possible.

How to Stop Outlook Automatically Deleting Emails from Inbox?

Nevertheless, whatever the reason is, causing Outlook to auto-delete emails, you can resolve this. Explained here are some of the tested procedures to stop Outlook from automatically deleting emails.

Solution 1- Disable Emptying Deleted Items Folders

To start, you need to disable auto-deleting emails stored in the Deleted Items folder. Follow the steps as instructed:

• Start MS Outlook.
• Open the File tab and Scroll down to the Options.
• Then, click on the Advanced Tab in Outlook options.
• If the ‘Empty Deleted Items folder when exiting Outlook’ checkbox is selected, uncheck it.

• Press OK to confirm the changes.

However, there is another alternative solution too, to fix Outlook automatically deleting emails.

Solution 2- Turn-Off AutoArchiving

If emails and attachments in an Outlook folder, are being automatically removed regularly, the cause could be AutoArchive. Follow the steps outlined below, to change Auto-archive settings:

• Open Outlook.
• Right-click on a particular folder.
• From the list of options, choose Properties.
• In the appearing dialogue box, open the AutoArchive tab.
• You will see the “Do not archive items in this folder” option. Select it.

• Click OK to save the changes.

Finally, the AutoArchive setting will be disabled. Thus, auto delete emails in Outlook issue will be fixed.

Solution 3- Verify Outlook Rules

Another way to fix Outlook automatically deleting emails is to verify your Outlook rules. Check Outlook rules to confirm that your program is not set to transfer emails to the Deleted Items folder or ignore conversations. Here is how to do it:

• Start Outlook and right-click on any email.
• Click on Rules and then Create Rule.

• If the ‘Move the item to Folder’ option is checked by default, untick it.

• You can also click on the Advanced Options button for further settings.

This may also stop the ‘automatically delete emails in Outlook’. However, if none of these solutions help, a possible cause is a corrupt PST file.

Wondering how to stop Outlook auto deleting emails? In this case, you need to first repair the damaged PST file.

Solution 4- Repair Corrupt/Damaged PST

Sometimes, PST files get corrupted, due to various causes. Consequently, this leads to auto delete emails in Outlook. To fix this, you can Download Scanpst.exe (Inbox Repair Tool) and repair the PST file. However, it has its restrictions. Such as, it can be tricky for non-technical users and fails to repair oversized PST files. Moreover, if you have an encrypted PST file, it is quite challenging to recover data using this process. Therefore, we suggest one of the best and most reliable tools to repair and recover PST files.

Download the SysInfo PST Recovery Tool for a risk-free solution to repair data from any level of corrupt PST file. It is easy to use and performs quick operations. Moreover, it can recover PST files of up to 80GB. Furthermore, you can save the recovered data to other file formats such as PST, MBOX, MSG, DBX, and EML. Besides, you can also apply a date filter to save only specific restored data. Thus, it is the best choice for users struggling to repair PST files.

Here are steps to guide you on how to use the tool:

1. Launch the Outlook PST Repair Tool.
2. Select Open to locate the corrupted PST file.
3. Choose the appropriate recovery mode and other option
4. Click OK to start the scanning process.
5. After the scanning is complete, preview the recoverable data.
6. Later, click on Save to download the resulting file and conversion report.

Conclusion

Hence, this is how you can stop the ‘Outlook automatically deleting emails’ issue in Outlook. We have provided you with four tried and tested solutions to fix this. You can choose one of them as per your preferences. Rest, the suggested professional tool is secure and maintains the privacy of your crucial data.